Texas Farm Bureau Manager Overtime Claims Attorneys

Williams Kherkher represents managers of Texas Farm Bureau who were not paid for overtime that they rightfully earned. We firmly believe that all employees deserve to be compensated for the work that they perform for their employer. If an employer fails to pay overtime, whether through misclassification or other reason, our aggressive Texas overtime pay attorneys will fight on behalf of the employee to make things right. We’re here to get you the compensation you earned and deserve, so contact us today for help.

What Is This Legal Action About?

The lawsuit alleges that Texas Farm Bureau and other named defendants violated the FLSA by misclassifying managers as independent contractors to avoid paying them overtime. The plaintiffs claim that they worked more than 40 hours per week, ranging from as few as five additional hours to as many as 20 overtime hours, without further compensation.

If you were a manager for Texas Farm Bureau who was not paid overtime after working more than 40 hours a week, you could be entitled to compensation. You can recover the amount that you are owed by joining the FLSA class action against the Texas Farm Bureau.

Williams Kherkher is representing individuals in communities all over Texas who are owed overtime pay by Texas Farm Bureau. Call (713) 230-2200 or fill out an online contact form to have our attorneys review your case and answer all of your legal questions during a free consultation.

Do I Need a Texas Farm Bureau Overtime Lawyer?

When a case involves a single entity like Texas Farm Bureau failing to pay a large number of people properly, a class action lawsuit is typically a much better resolution option for aggrieved parties than individual legal actions. A class action allows for multiple parties to obtain damages through a single lawsuit.

A lead plaintiff will file most class actions, and both Texas Farm Bureau and Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company argued that the lead plaintiff in the overtime FLSA action was not a proper party representative since he did not personally contract with the defendants. Judge Manske wrote that the lead plaintiff’s entity status was not relevant to an action according to FLSA and also noted that Southern Farm Bureau’s argument that the plaintiff no longer being a current agency manager was “wholly without merit.”

As the Texas Farm Bureau and Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company case demonstrates, getting a class certified is a complicated process and the number of procedural actions defendants will take to delay or dismiss actions often requires experienced legal representation. When the class is certified, the lawyer can negotiate for a settlement that is awarded to the entire class and distributed accordingly.

Possible plaintiffs do have the right to opt out of a class action if they wish to pursue individual legal action. Such individuals may be inclined to seek larger awards when they do not believe that a class action will provide adequate compensation, but the individual actions can be more difficult to achieve any success with when they are making claims similar to the class action.

Why Choose Williams Kherkher To Handle My Case?

The record of success for Williams Kherkher includes billions of dollars recovered for more than 30,000 clients over the course of nearly four decades, including the largest settlement in United States history. John Eddie Williams, Jr. and Steven J. Kherkher are both certified in personal injury law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Mr. Williams, Jr. was named a Top-Rated Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell in 2015 and a Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Mr. Kherkher received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a peer rating denoting the highest level of professional excellence.

Texas Farm Bureau Overtime: About the Case

On December 11, 2017, United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas recommended that a plaintiff’s motion for conditional certification as a Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) collective action and for court-authorized notice be granted. Judge Manske concluded that the plaintiffs were similarly situated for purposes of the FLSA and had sufficiently demonstrated that aggrieved individuals existed who wanted to opt-in to the lawsuit.

Texas Farm Bureau and Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company both filed motions with the court arguing that the class action authorization under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 should be applied, but Judge Manske noted that a majority of district courts in the Fifth Circuit followed the two-step process establishes in Lusardi v. Xerox Corp., 118 F.R.D. 351

(D.N.J. 1987). The plaintiffs also noted that the Supreme Court had made statements implying that Rule 23 analysis was incompatible with FLSA claims.

Judge Manske noted in his decision that the plaintiffs had demonstrated that they were similarly situated both regarding job requirements and payment provisions. The plaintiffs, in this case, claim that they were improperly classified as independent contractors when they regularly worked more than 12 hours a day and 40 hours a week without receiving any overtime compensation.

One plaintiff who worked for the defendants for 35 years routinely worked 20 hours of overtime a week and estimated that between 120 and 160 other agency managers worked under similar working and pay conditions. While the defendants argued that agency managers could negotiate individual arrangements for their own offices, Judge Manske concluded that the complaint, five declarations, and 60 other exhibits demonstrated that the plaintiffs made a “modest factual showing” that they were similarly situated.

Since the lawsuit was filed in April 2017, six additional plaintiffs had already consented to join the suit, and the court was presented with a list of more than 100 agency managers who worked for the defendants and could be possible opt-in plaintiffs. While the defendants, in this case, argued for a two-year statute of limitations period and proposed notice on claims, Judge Manske overruled their objections and maintained the three-year statute of limitations that courts within the Fifth Circuit authorize.

Contact a Texas Farm Bureau Overtime Lawyer Today

Did Texas Farm Bureau refuse to pay you overtime during the time they employed you? You could be entitled to compensation that includes overtime wages for all of the overtime hours you worked.

Contact Williams Kherkher to join an FLSA class action against Texas Farm Bureau if you were a manager who was denied overtime pay. You can have our attorneys provide a complete evaluation of your case when you call (713) 230-2200 or contact us online to set up a free consultation.